


When Loki met the Ace

by NuttyDounuts14



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-19 00:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4726130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuttyDounuts14/pseuds/NuttyDounuts14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is sent to live with the Avengers, but separated from his magic, he grows bored very quickly. That is until he meets an agent that doesn't respond to any of his flirting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone,  
> So um, this is my first (published) fic, and hopefully many more will follow. Many thanks to bookworm61 for beta reading for me, and generally being a sound board to bounce ideas off, this wouldn't exist without you

Loki stared in disgust at the humans busying themselves around him. To think that he, the rightful king of Asguard, had to lower himself to… to… living with mortals! It was unacceptable. Odin had no right to do this to him.  
“Brother,” Thor came up behind him. “We must be going, the others are waiting,” Thor continued walking, safe in the knowledge Loki would follow.  
“You’re not my brother,” Loki muttered before following. There was a slight clink, and Loki looked down, to see the small, unassuming bracelet that had just hit his armour. That was perhaps the worst part. That Odin had stripped him of his magic. He could feel the empty space where it should be, eating away at him. It would only be returned when Loki had learnt humility, whatever that was. At least Loki thought bitterly he’s treating us equally for once, remembering how Thor had also been cast out and separated from his powers. His reverie was interrupted as the former brothers stopped in front of a large building.  
It was clad in a shiny, grey material and had a large, capital A on a pointy bit, which was too big to really call a balcony. It took a moment, but Loki quickly recognised Stark Tower, where the battle of New York had centred around. Smiling, he realised he was to live with the Avengers. Well, he thought, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

In the few days since Loki had arrived at the tower, Thor had constantly tried to show him the “wonder” of Midguard. But as far as Loki was concerned, Earth was as boring as ever. He had to find something to do, but the only fun you could have with mortals required a lot more animosity then he had.  
Loki humphed as Thor tried to show him some other Midguardin marvel. His brother claimed it was a magnificent symbol of freedom, but as far as Loki was concerned, it was little more than some mortal woman holding a tablet and torch. Thor sighed, finally giving in to Loki’s disinterest, and they headed back to the tower. On the subway, Loki continued to think of a way to soften the idiots he now lived with. He decided to follow his normal strategy and as soon as they stepped inside the Avenger’s Tower, Loki started to flirt with everyone. It didn’t matter what gender they were, or what their job was. They all became very flustered (at least in his mind) and dropped everything until Loki had passed, as Thor looked on disapprovingly. Loki didn’t stop when they reached the penthouse levels where the Avengers lived.  
Wanda Maximoff came out of her room, upon hearing the elevator arriving. She still hadn’t much of a chance to see New York, since joining the Avengers. Most of her time had been spent at the new training centre, and what little time she had leftover was used sleeping, so she intended to make the most of her rare day off. As she walked down the corridor, she saw Thor coming towards her with his psycho brother.  
“You are a rare specimen,” Logan or whatever his name was stated, “Maybe Midguard wouldn’t be so bad with you keeping me company.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t look at it, sweeping past and aiming a ball of energy at the creep so he was thrown at the wall. With a flick of her hair, Wanda stalked into the elevator, the doors closing as Thor’s booming laughter echoed down the corridor.  
Loki picked himself up with as much of his dignity as he could manage. He stomped in front of his brother, who was bent over with laughter.  
“Shall we continue?” He asked Thor, icily. Thor straightened up and tried to silence the great guffaws, to little success. They turned into the kitchen, to find Captain America about to bite into a sandwich he had made. He was wearing a baggy T-shirt with a faded Iron Man mask on the front. Steve looked at Loki and decided it would be best not to ask why he had plaster board in his hair. He was just making a mental memo to find the hole, when Loki spoke. “Captain, I must say, as much as I love seeing you in that,” he licked his lips “tight uniform, I could learn to appreciate you wearing that in certain,” he paused “circumstances.” Steve blushed as he realised the context of Loki’s comment.  
“Uhh” was all he could manage, as he left his sandwich on the plate and walked out, almost colliding with the wall, he was so flustered. Thor glared at his brother as he opened the fridge.  
“Loki that was unkind” he chastised, taking out a carton of milk.  
“Please, just because he doesn’t want to sleep with us, doesn’t mean the good Captain likes the ladies.” Loki responded in a casual manner. Thor was about to answer, when laughter entered the kitchen, in the form of Hawkeye, and a strange woman Loki had never seen with the Avengers before. They both stopped as they caught sight of the Asguardians, and Hawkeye just said “Nope,” before back pedalling into the corridor.  
“Oh come on Clint, it’s not like its Nat and Bucky singing Russian nursery rhymes,” the woman poked her head around the doorframe.  
“No, its mind controlling aliens,” The brother could hear Hawkeye’s voice getting quieter.  
“Wuss!” the woman shouted. She turned back around. “Oh nice, a sandwich.” She picked it up and looked at the brothers, with an amused stare.  
“This isn’t yours is it?” The look on her face suggested she would eat it either way. Thor shook his head, clearly used to the antics of this agent. She smiled and took a big bite.  
“Hello, I’m Loki, you’ve probably heard of me,” Loki purred in the most seductive manner he could. He could see the perfect way to further torment the Hawk than just being there.  
She looked up from the cupboard she was rooting around in.  
“Oh hey, I’m Terry Norbin,” That was not what he had expected. So he tried again.  
“Did you know I have one of the biggest towers in Asguard?” Thor choked on the milk he was drinking, shocked at the obvious innuendo, and even more surprised at her lack of reaction.  
“Really? Well now I know it must be tiny, if you feel the need to brag about it,” she said rather cheerily, as she walked out with Captain America’s sandwich on a plate. They sat in silence as what this Terry Norbin had said sunk in. In the corridor, Steve’s indignant “That’s my sandwich!” was drowned out by Thor’s laughter, whilst Loki tried to make sense of what had just happened. He got up and looked down the corridor at her retreating back, as Steve chased her, and he wondered, why hadn’t she reacted like everybody else?


	2. Chapter 2

Agent Norbin played on Loki’s mind the rest of the day. He thought about how he had got difficult girls in Asguard. He had made them laugh. Loki smiled, he was going to have Terry and he would get her by doing something he loved. Pranking.  
He started off with Iron Man. That night whilst everyone slept, Loki snuck down to Tony’s suits. It had taken a bit of effort to get his supplies, but he forgot his anguish as they rattled in the bag he carried. It took a bit more time than he had thought to get access to the suits, but now he could work. He opened the bag and lifted out a spray can. Giggling to himself he sprayed all of them, before sneaking back up stairs.  
“LOOOOKKKKKIIIIII!” the roar echoed through the whole building, as Loki sleepily wiped the dust from his eyes, didn’t they know he had been up late? Thor burst into his room, followed by Tony and Steve. “Loki, what possessed you…” Thor didn’t get a chance to finish, as Clint started howling at the sight of Tony in the Lokied suit.   
“What’s going on out here?” Widow demanded, as she walked from her room, still dressed in her pyjamas, “You do know that some of us are still sleeping right?” She saw the suit and started laughing along with Clint.  
Loki looked at the scene smugly, as the assassin and the marksman held their stomachs from laughing at the sight of Tony standing in one of his suits. Loki had painted it all hot pink before adding little gems and jewels to create diamanté gloves, and pink glitter had been artfully spread to create shoulder pads and a bikini.   
Clint turned to Natasha and stopped laughing long enough to sing “Life in plastic,” to which she finished, “it’s fantastic!” They both collapsed into laughter as the elevator dinged. Terry and Wanda walked into the chaos and stopped at the spectacle. The pair grinned as Terry walked towards the fire hose.   
“Hey Tony,” she called before letting the water through the pipe. Tony was thrown backwards from the water pressure, but Terry continued until the glitter and jewels were in a soggy mess of sparkles on the floor.  
“You should be able to paint over the rest,” she said as calmly as she could before turning to Loki. “Please tell me,” she said, “that you did the rest of them.” He nodded and she smiled, as the Avengers scrambled to get down to the other suits. Natasha, Clint and Wanda running to get photos, Steve and Tony trying to stop them.  
“That was wonderful,” Terry stated, with a huge smile on her face. Loki looked at her and decided to try flirting again, to see if she would be more responsive.  
“I have other tricks I could show you,” He said, with a saucy tone. There was no way she could miss his intentions this time, after all that must have been what it was in the kitchen. He had decided that last time he hadn’t been explicit enough for her to understand. Terry raised her eyebrows.  
“Oh you do, do you?” She had understood him then, Loki waited expectantly for the inevitable coming back to his room.   
“I can’t wait to see them,” she continued. Here it comes! Loki thought.  
“Especially when you do Cap,” Wait, what?! Loki was left standing in the corridor, desperately trying not to let his mouth hang open, as she sauntered off.  
Loki continued to prank the Avengers, trying to get Terry’s attention. She always laughed at his hard work, and congratulated his success. It was after Loki superglued Mjolnir’s handle, and Thor walked round trying to find the acetone Loki had “helpfully” removed, that he realised Terry understood all his flirting but chose to misunderstand them. Then, after Loki had replaced Hawkeye’s bow string with elastic, he found out that Terry was not going out with the archer.  
When Barton got his revenge, by using his arrows to pin Loki to the wall, he discovered that Terry just laughed at anything. So for a while, Loki forgot about pranking the Avengers whilst he and Baron had a prank war. It was stopped when the Captain found Clint filling Loki’s bed with arrows, whilst Widow found Loki pulling the same trick with nails in Barton’s bed.  
Anti-vandalism paint on the inside of Tony’s suit had everyone, even Steve, laughing and despite being Loki’s best trick yet, he still didn’t get anywhere with Terry. Although the media had a riot about Iron Man being insensitive to racial issues, and Tony trying to work out how he had still been able to see the HUD display with the paint there.  
Loki sat and thought about why his pranks weren’t working. Clearly, he wasn’t thinking big enough. He went off pondering how big, big would have to be to get in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so the whole story is actually written up, and edited and saved to my laptop. It just needs to be uploaded, but I'm gonna be a whole load of awkward, because I have the power. MWHAHAHA


	3. Chapter 3

He couldn’t wait; he was like a child on Christmas and the others knew he was up to something. No one could work it out though. Loki had been locked up in his room for days before there had been a power outage across the city and he finally remerged a day or two later, grinning like a gossip with an outrageous secret. What they didn’t know was that Loki had been leaning how to hack an AI. The power outage had been carefully planned and carried out, so that he could access Jarvis’ system, and now he had everything he needed for a final prank on Terry.   
Before he pulled this trick, he wanted to be sure it would work. He snuck into Terry’s rom while she was on a mission, and looked for where she might hide something personal. Carefully Loki opened Terry’s wardrobe and rooted around her shoes looking for anything. He was hoping for a diary and struck lucky as his fingers touched paper. He pulled it out and, to his surprise, saw a letter. It felt rather heavy and the thick paper called his curiosity, so he opened it and began to read.  
Dear Laura, it began. Loki briefly wondered who Laura was.  
If you’re reading this, then I am sorry to tell you, but I’m dead. Clint can probably tell you how I died. I just want to say I’m sorry we never fixed the rift between us. You’re right, it was my fault Mom and Dad were killed. Please let me tell you the whole story so you can know and I can rest at peace. The government will have told you that armed robbers held Tiffany’s hostage, whilst our parents were there. That the agent in charge made a rookie error, despite having years of experience and Mom and Dad were shot. So let me tell you, the bad guys? They weren’t robbers but super villains. They needed a rather large diamond for a laser or something. I was assigned the case because of my experience with these situations. We arrived and I soon found Mom and Dad were amongst those in danger. My first thought was Shit, I’m too close to this case. I wanted to back off and have someone else take over, someone who wouldn’t be emotionally compromised, but when I spoke to Director Fury, he told me I was the best and that he was sure I would keep my head. I tried to treat it like any other situation, I swear, but I kept thinking of Mom and how scared she was going to be. They got one of the hostages to read the ransom note. It was Dad. I couldn’t help it. I cried out “Dad!” over the radio. “Are you okay? Is Mom okay? Don’t panic, I’ll get you out of this” and that was it. Victor Von Doom came on. He demanded things I wasn’t high enough position to agree to. And when I didn’t, he vaporised them. All because I couldn’t help myself. I failed them and in doing so failed you. For that I can never say how sorry I am to you, and to the kids (Clint told me all about them) for taking away their grandparents. You have every reason to never forgive me, but I don’t think I can rest in peace without you knowing what really happened. I only hope you can forgive my stupidity in this life and we can be what we should have been in the next. Sisters.  
Thank you for reading this and know that I never stopped missing you and our parents. I guess all that’s left to say is bye. See you on the other side.  
Terry  
Loki looked up, surprised at the emotion he felt. The sorrow in the letter had shifted him in a way he never thought he could be moved. He carefully put the letter back in the envelope and put it back where he had found it. Quietly, he left the room and went back to his own room, trying not to think of the letter. He shook his head, no, he could not, would not feel like this over a mortal. Tonight, he would finally get her into bed, and then remember her as another notch. That was his thing, what he did, so why did it feel so wrong this time?  
It was a few hours later, and Loki was feeling confident, as he began. He had changed his target from Terry and decided to hit all the Avengers. All of the Iron Man suits lit up as Loki began pushing buttons on his home made controller. He began with a careful flight around the tower’s exterior before they landed in the main living room and began to play “I’ve Got No Strings”. As he had hoped, all the Avengers plus Terry rushed in, expecting the worst. Next he projected a silver blur running around the room, and Wanda gasped putting her hand over her mouth. Her eyes glistened with tears as Loki made his appearance, the blur disappearing and the suits powering down.  
“What,” he said cockily, copying the sound file he had learnt perfectly, “You didn’t see that coming?” Wanda sank to her knees, as she realised what Loki had done and everyone stared at him stock still, until the Captain started forward, his eyes bulging in anger. He began to speak, but Terry stopped him, holding her hand over his chest.   
“I’ll deal with it,” She said, her voice shaking with anger. Turning to Loki, she simply said “Out,” and at her voice he began to think he may have over done it. It was confirmed as The Vision appeared and tenderly wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl on the floor.   
“What the hell where you thinking?” She yelled at him as soon as the door closed. “I’m going to presume that the blackout was you getting into Jarvis, to read the files?” He nodded, amazed and terrified at the amount of anger she had encompassed in her voice and body language.  
“Then that just makes it worse,” Loki winced as Terry’s volume increased, “because you would know how close they were and how bad Wanda was after Pietro died. What you did in there, that was not to make us laugh, it was spite, because I won’t sleep with you!”  
“Well if you had just slept with me, would it have been so bad?” Loki retaliated.  
“I don’t know, because I have no interest in you or anyone like that.”  
“For Odin’s sake, if you don’t know, then why the Hel will you not just sleep with me?!”  
“Because I don’t sleep with anyone!”  
On the other side of the door, what had just started out a loud muffles, had turned into a fight where they could hear every word. Clint looked worriedly at Nat, the only other person in the room who knew the truth about his sister-in-law. All Nat could do was shrug, but it was enough to let Clint know she was as worried about what the others would say as he was. Outside the fight continued.  
“That’s not an answer,” Loki yelled, “Just tell me, why you won’t sleep with me? Are you a lesbian?” He said it as a taunt.  
Terry paled before yelling back. “No! Maybe you’re just not as attractive as you think”  
“Well, you responded to my flirts so that’s not it, is it? Maybe you’re just scared? He sneered.  
“Or maybe I am an Asexual and don’t feel sexual attraction!” They both stopped at her revelation, breathing heavily, as what Terry had said sunk in. Suddenly she clapped her hand over her mouth, realising that everyone behind the door would have heard that. Her eyes welled and she ran off down the corridor. She couldn’t face the others after that. Loki was left standing alone, trying to work out how there could be people who didn’t feel sexual attraction.  
Back with the Avengers, Clint had his head in his hands; he knew that Terry hadn’t wanted to tell the others. Steve turned to him and, seeing how uncertain Natasha looked, knew that this was a big deal. He wanted to ask but felt it really wasn’t the right time. Tony, on the other hand, had no such reservations.  
“So, um, does anyone want to explain what an asexual is? Because last I checked, it was type of reproduction,”  
“An Asexual, in terms of sexuality, is an individual who feels little to no sexual attraction, other types of attraction including romantic and aesthetic remain unaffected.” Vision piped up, from where he still held Wanda  
Steve still looked confused. “So she’s…” he wasn’t sure how to finish the question.  
“Yes Cap,” Clint looked up from his hands, “Terry is part of the LBGT community.”  
“Right,” Steve now felt rather uncomfortable, as he fought with his emotions.   
“She didn’t want to tell anyone, because she knew it makes people nervous. Not many people can understand that some people don’t have a libido.”  
Now Thor looked just as uneasy. In Asguard, sex was regarded as how couples confirmed their love for each other. It was rather alien to him, that anyone wouldn’t want it.  
There was an awkward pause, before Thor stood up.   
“I should go and check on Loki” he announced, “he probably won’t take it very well”  
“Yes,” Steve stood as well, “and we should let Terry know that we all support her.” They nodded at each other affirmatively before going out the door.  
Steve went left towards Terry’s room but Clint pulled him back.  
“Let me tell her,” he murmured, and Steve nodded, relieved.  
They walked out together, before separating, Clint going left and Thor to the right, towards Loki, who was still in the corridor.  
“I’ve been chasing someone who feels no attraction at all?”   
“I guess so, I do not really understand it,” Thor said.   
Loki sighed, “Nor do I, but I suppose one good thing has come out of all this.” Thor looked at him, “at least I haven’t lost it,” Loki smirked as Thor smiled and shook his head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are references to rape and child abuse in this chapter! Please skip it if these are triggers for you

They didn’t speak for nearly two weeks. Loki sat in his room, not speaking to anyone. Guilt overwhelmed him after seeing Wanda’s reaction. Terry did her best to avoid anyone but Clint. Although Natasha had already known, she let Terry have her space. It was fairly successful as Terry took every mission that didn’t require specialism. In fact, unless she directly went looking for someone, she saw no one, until Steve stayed up to see her.  
He sat in the kitchen, statue like, as she flicked off the lights, frowned and flicked them on again. She put down her bag, muttering about how she’d have to tell Stark the lights didn’t work properly. He let her grab some food from the fridge, before gently coughing to let her know he was there.  
“Jesus!” she cried as she jumped. “Captain what are you doing here?” She still looked fairly startled, so Steve decided to be gentle.  
“First of all, please call me Steve, and secondly, Terry, we need to talk.” He gestured for her to sit; she obeyed. “You know that we’re all okay with your sexuality.” He struggled with the last word, it didn’t seem to feel right.  
“Cap- Steve, the first time I told someone, someone whom I trusted, about my desires, or rather lack of them, they questioned me about it intently, before they,” she choked and Steve started to get a bad feeling, but before he had a chance to ask her anything, she hardened her face and started again in a monotone.  
“They raped me.”  
Steve looked at her appalled and shocked.  
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” he said quickly. She shook her head and continued.  
“No, you should know,” she continued, “He said I couldn’t make up my mind before I’d tried it. After he couldn’t understand how I hadn’t enjoyed it, he came back every night to ‘educate’ me.” She said the word bitterly. Steve thought he had felt anger at the start of Terry’s story, but now it was a ball of white hot rage, and suspicion.  
“Terry, who was it? You don’t have to give me his name, but how did he now you?” She stared at him, like a deer caught in the headlights, but she knew he had already guessed. Lowering her head she answered him with a sigh, all traces of the previous strength gone.  
“My mother’s boyfriend, I told them both together when I was about 14.” she laughed, a short bark “You know, when she found out, she kicked me out. Called me a lying slut, and he, he just stood there, an arm round her, smiling like a cat with cream.” Her fists were curled into balls. Her eyes moved from where Steve sat, unsure what to say or do, to the doorway where Loki stood.  
Loki hadn’t been able to sleep when a hushed yell of “Jesus” came from the kitchen. Curious he had walked down and heard everything Terry said to Steve about her history. Maybe it was the shared experience of shitty parenting, or hearing she had suffered a crime which on Asgard would have led to being sent to another realm, but her story touched him, and he just wanted to comfort her. He stepped through the door and opened his mouth to speak but, before he had a chance, Terry pushed past him and disappeared down the corridor.  
“Terry, wait” he called and she stopped, turning to face him. “I know abuse is hard, but I’ve been there, I get it”  
“Oh really? Because I don’t remember your childhood being filled with trauma. In fact your file says it was a good life, until you decided to throw all your toys out the pram because daddy lied to you” she spat out spitefully.  
“You know what? Yes it was a good life, except for the constant barrage of mental abuse! My bilge snipe of an adopted father always belittled me.” He paused breathing heavily. “You know what, maybe we aren’t the same” They stared at each other, before Terry looked down ashamed.  
“I’m sorry” she started, “Just because it wasn’t what I went through, doesn’t mean your childhood was any less abusive than mine.”  
“I know” he replied softly, “It’s hard to take, and even harder to get over” He walked forward, and lifted his arms, as though he was going to hug her, but he faltered and lowered them again.  
“I do have one question though” Loki said cautiously, “Where does Laura fit into all of this?”  
Terry looked at him incredulously and dropped his arms, “How did you find out about Laura?” Loki immediately realised he had fucked up, and decided the truth was best at this point.  
“I read the letter in your wardrobe.” He said it matter-of-factly, “I wanted to add to the character profile I was building. When I finished” He spoke more gently and looked down “I had never been more ashamed” He hoped Terry could see his sincerity. She could.  
Sighing, Terry glared at him, before relenting. “I can see how that letter would be confusing, given my history” She paused “After being kicked out, I went to my best friend’s house. Laura and I were already close enough to consider ourselves sisters. When I showed up, they sat me down, I told them Mum didn’t want to see me anymore. It took a few weeks for the story about the abuse to come out. The next day involved the police station, social welfare and getting adopted. I became a Norbin and never looked back”  
She yawned, and Loki jumped up, “Hmm, bedtime it seems” he said cockily. Terry laughed.  
“Yeah, as much as I ‘enjoyed’ tonight’s chat, I’d enjoy my pillow more” Loki smiled. As they walked back towards the kitchen they were silent, but Loki could see Terry wanted to say something. They reached his room, when she finally decided to share.  
“Hey, I’ve got the day off tomorrow,” she paused before asking him hesitantly “Maybe we could go sight-seeing?”  
Loki nodded, he got the feeling New York with Terry would be much more fun than New York with Thor.  
She grinned, “Great, I’ll see you in the morning” She walked off towards her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't be bothered to write any more of these things, so enjoy reading in peace


	5. Chapter 5

Loki groaned as the curtains were pulled back and the New York skyline was revealed. He pulled the covers over his head, and then shivered as it was stolen away.  
“Come on,” someone whined, “We gotta get going to avoid the tourist traps.” Loki opened his eyes blearily, just in time to register the bucket before the cold water landed on him.  
“Clint!”  
“I just wanted to throw the water on him!” Loki sat up to see Terry pinching the bridge of her nose, and Hawkeye smiling holding a bucket.  
“Morning,” the marksman said cheerfully, “Thor said we might have a bit of trouble waking you.” Terry clicked her fingers and pointed at the door. Clint left, still looking rather cheerful, even waving goodbye to the pair and wishing them a good day.  
“Sorry about him, but you do need to get up. I’ll be in the kitchen with coffee and bagels.” Terry smiled and left. Loki flopped back onto the bed, not quite sure what had just happened.   
It was about 10 minutes later that a fully dressed Loki stumbled into the kitchen and had a Costa cup and bagel with bacon and Philadelphia cheese pressed into his hands. The next thing he knew he was in the elevator, chewing on his breakfast bagel, quietly wondering in sleep riddled thoughts what the day would hold.  
“So,” he said, as he finished his mouthful, “What exactly are we doing today?” He tried to sound enthusiastic, he really did. He failed miserably.   
“I know you’re tired, but you could be a bit more excited,” Terry tried to look hurt. She failed just as badly as he had. They laughed at each other’s feigned feelings as the elevator dinged, and the doors opened out into the lobby.  
Back in the tower, Thor stood at the window watching the pair walk down the street. They got into a push fight just as Widow joined him to observe the couple.   
“I give it a week,” she said in an objective manner to Clint, whom Thor hadn’t even noticed reading a magazine in the corner.  
“Nah, Terry’s too obstinate, it’ll be a least a month,” he replied.  
“How much are you willing to bet on that?” Natasha smiled. Clint thought for a moment  
“$10,” he replied finally.  
“Barton, my friend” Thor turned round “You underestimate my brother. If I remember from his previous conquests in Asgard, he will take 3 days and no more”  
“Oh,” Natasha raised an eyebrow, “Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?”  
Thor nodded. “$20”  
“You’re on,” the Hawk announced as the rest of the team walked in.  
“What’s on?” asked Tony as he grabbed his favourite seat, the one with a view of the door and window.   
“We’re betting on how long it will take Loki and Terry to get together,” Widow explained.  
“What’s the stake?” Steve asked.  
“$20.”  
“Normal rules?”   
“Yep, doubles for everyone who loses.”  
“By the end of the day, then,” Tony declared.  
“Fortnight,” Bruce decided.  
“A year,” chimed Steve and everyone looked at him. “What? That was normal procedure at one time.” He walked out muttering about how everything was rush, rush, rush these days.  
The Vision and Wanda didn’t take part; why should they care about Terry and Loki? With everyone focused on those two, they didn’t have to sneak around so much.  
Loki sighed happily as they sat for lunch. His feet were killing him and his mind was reeling from everything Terry had shown him. First they had been around the area he and the Chitari had decimated. He had been amazed to see it had recovered so well – it was like his invasion had never happened. He had voiced his thoughts and Terry had laughed.  
“Well, New York is the world capital, we couldn’t leave it looking trashed now could we?”  
He supposed not and continued to gawk. When Thor had tried to show him the city, he had acted like humans were the greatest things ever, and that they could do no wrong. With Terry, she acted how he would have, when showing someone Asgard. She showed him the understated beauty rather than the overhyped must sees.   
Rather than visiting the Empire State, she took him to see the architecture in Tribeca. No Statue of Liberty, but Times Square. They avoided the tourist traps and she showed him the everyday New York.   
They returned to the Avengers tower nearly 14 hours after they had left, and yet Loki felt like they hadn’t even scratched the surface of the city he had tried to level.  
“Terry?” He asked as they stood in the elevator, “Could we go out again tomorrow? It feels like we only looked at a single rain drop in a puddle,” She stared at him.  
“Are you sure? I mean Earth is such a dirt bag.” They laughed together and, as the doors opened, she turned to him. “Of course we can do more tomorrow.” She smiled. It was a warm smile, and Loki never wanted to stop seeing it. But she turned away, heading to her room.  
It was only as Loki reached his own sanctum that he realised he still didn’t know much about Terry. He vowed to ask her all the questions he could the next day. He got ready for bed and as he drifted off, his decided that maybe the Midgard wasn’t so bad after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings about hostage situations

They went out every day that week, each day starting earlier and earlier, until Loki found himself gently knocking on Terry’s door with a cup of coffee held out like a sacrifice. The door opened to reveal a tired Terry. Her hair was huge, messy and had never held more appeal to Loki. She wore a loose top and a pair of shorts, which revealed a pair of long, seemingly endless legs. Legs that Loki really wanted to see again, but in a completely different manner. Suddenly there was no coffee in Loki’s hand and the door slammed shut. Clint walked round the corner and saw him looking bemused.  
“Huh, you survived sleepy Terry then.”  
“Yes.” There was an awkward pause.  
“So that’s why she always came to wake me?”  
“Yep.” The pause returned.  
“Well anyways,” Hawkeye said, “Have a good day.”  
“Likewise,” Neither of them really registered what Loki had said until Hawkeye was halfway down the next corridor, where he had to stop and replay the conversation in his head to confirm that, yes Loki had wished him a good day.  
Loki decided to wait for Terry in the kitchen. He just had enough time to make the bagels, when Terry walked in, ready for the day. It was such a difference from what he had seen earlier that Loki couldn’t help but laugh.  
“What?” She looked so worried and confused, “What is it?” Loki couldn’t answer, because he was still laughing too hard, so she humphed and sat on a stool, until he had calmed down.  
“Sorry,” he said, but she just turned her head, “Come on Terry, seeing you how you normally are just makes pre- coffee you even funnier,” She turned to him smirking.  
“Sorry did you want a bagel?” Her mouth was full, and Loki looked at the two empty plates, where there had been a bagel for each of them. His face fell into shock as she swallowed.  
“You wouldn’t,” he growled.  
“Of course I wouldn’t,” Terry retorted, and threw Loki his bagel. He stared at her, as she now dissolved into giggles.  
They did the tourist traps that day, but as they finished Lady Liberty in the afternoon, Terry got a call from SHIELD. Loki listened curiously to the side of the conversation he could hear.  
“Yep,” Terry replied. “Yes Sir. Of course. I’m on the way. Can you get someone to pick Loki up?” She paused. “Thanks.”  
“Loki, I gotta go,” She seemed serious now. “SHIELD needs me to come in.” He nodded, fully aware why they would want Terry.  
“Go, do your job.” She smiled sadly at him and ran off as Thor landed next to them. The brothers started to walk back to the tower.   
“You and Terry seem to get on well,” Thor commented and Loki looked at him surprised.  
“Yes,” he replied, “She’s a nice person and the New York she showed me… I wish there was some way I could repay her.” Thor was shocked, both at Loki’s feelings and his openness. They walked in silence for a while, when Loki spoke again.  
“Thor, how would you go about trying to fix the relationship between siblings?” Thor could have cried. Loki finally wanted to reconcile. Hiding his excitement he replied,  
“Well, I would try and talk to my sibling about what went wrong, and try and explain my actions.” Loki nodded, thinking of the letter in Terry’s wardrobe. “If that didn’t work, then I would continue to show I loved my brother and wait for them to come to me when he was ready. It takes a while, but eventually,” Thor stopped and gave Loki a huge hug, to which Loki responded by immediately trying to break free of, “it pays off. It’s good to have you back brother”  
Loki ceased struggling against Thor’s bear like hug, as he realised Thor’s mistake.  
“No, you great oaf,” he cried, “I wasn’t talking about us, I was talking about Terry and Laura!” He started trying to push his brother away, oblivious New Yorkers continuing with their day to day lives. Thor let him go wearing an injured look that an abandoned puppy would be proud of. “It would be the perfect way to pay back Terry, to fix her relationship with Laura.”   
Thor continued his dejectedness all the way back to tower, until in the lift Loki sighed and finally gave in.  
“Although I suppose, I do miss having a brother,”   
The yelp of surprise that he uttered with Thor’s brotherly hug attack was heard throughout the building.  
When Terry finally got back to the tower, she pulled Clint to the side and whispered something to him that Loki couldn’t hear. Barton’s face became more sorrowful. He nodded and then pulled Terry into a hug. When they separated, Terry left the room, and wasn’t seen the rest of the evening. Loki desperately wanted to know what was wrong with her, but he knew better. He waited until Clint left the room and then excused himself from Thor’s presence.  
“Is she okay?” he asked in the corridor, and the Hawk shook his head.  
“She’s upset, her mission was a complete failure.”  
“Should I-“  
“No, leave her be for the moment,” Clint started to walk again.  
“Wait!” Loki called, “I want to do something for her, but I need both your help and your permission” Barton stopped walking, which Loki took to be a good sign. “I want to reconcile her and Laura.” Needless to say, he and Hawkeye had a very long chat that night, once Loki wrestled the bow, arrows and various stabby things off him. And found a rope strong enough to tie him to a chair. And then moved him to Tony’s workshop so he wouldn’t wake the other Avengers with his yelling.  
As Loki finally entered his room, he sighed gratefully. He flopped on the bed when he heard quiet sobbing. Sobbing that was clearly muffled by a pillow. “Jarvis,” the god called out to the restored AI, “Where is the crying coming from?”  
“Agent Norbin’s room sir,” The mechanical voice answered. Loki jumped out of his bed and ran to comfort Terry. He reached her door, and opened it gently.  
“Terry?” he asked tentatively. He walked in. She had her back pressed against the wardrobe and was holding her knees to her chest, facing the window. Her head was bowed into a pillow between her knees and chest. She looked up, tear tracks glistening in the moonlight.  
“Is this about the mission?” Loki tried again to get her to open up. She put her head back down and Loki knew he had hit the nail on the head. “Terry,” he sighed, “You can’t save everyone, you’re going to lose people in your line of work.” She raised her head again.   
“They were children,” she murmured “Who takes children hostage? Who takes children hostage and won’t listen to negotiations?” She started to shout, “Who shoots a class of 7 year olds, and refuses to talk to anyone?” Loki stared, no one had told him the specifics of the mission, just that it had gone wrong and some of the hostages died. His unresponsive manner didn’t affect Terry as she went on at a quieter volume. “Have you ever tried to talk to someone, but every time you click the radio, they get a child to shout their name, before shooting them? You can hear the kids crying, and every single shot, as one by one they’re decimated. So you stop trying to talk and the guy goes “You’re coming for me!” He shrieks it over and over, and you can hear the gunfire, no longer single shots but long bursts and you can hear less and less of the screams as the entire class of 30 children, 30 seven year olds, is killed. Murdered in cold blood.” She started to break down again. “To know that you followed your training, that you did everything you could, and that those kids are still dead.” Sobs took over her speech and Loki just stared pondering, how do you sleep when that happens?  
He shuffled forward, and unfolded her from her position, pulling her in close. She responded immediately, crying into the thin material on his chest and holding him tightly. Gently he stroked her hair and quietly whispered to her  
“It’s not your fault, you did everything you could.” He kept on repeating it, and it seemed to work as Terry’s sobs started to slow, and Loki realised, it wasn’t because she feeling better, but rather she was starting to fall asleep, emotionally exhausted. He leaned back slowly until his own head hit the pillow. She was still hiccupping the occasional whimper, and Loki felt oddly protective of her, holding her closer still, so she would know he was there throughout the night.


	7. Chapter 7

He woke up to find hair tickling his nose and looked down to see Terry using his chest as a pillow. He blew on her hair gently and laughed as her nose wrinkled and she slowly came around from sleep.  
“I knew I’d get in your bed someday,” he chuckled.  
“Don’t get used to it,” she groaned. She went to roll off him, but a slight adjustment in his arm position stopped her. She frowned at him.  
“Don’t get all offended, it was for your comfort” Loki drawled in response, Terry humphed as she moved back in. She dozed quietly, waking and falling back to sleep.  
Loki was silently thanking Odin that he had changed to Midgardian garb rather than staying in his armour, when Thor ran through the door.  
“Loki, it’s Thanos.” Terry found herself displaced as Loki sat up quickly, and she completely missed the congratulation wink Thor threw at Loki.  
While they waited for the pair, Widow became $180 richer. They didn’t take too long though, and soon had joined everyone. Captain America quickly briefed everyone on the situation.  
“Thanos has finally appeared but, thanks to Thor and Loki’s intel, we were expecting him. He’s brought some friends with him, but nothing we shouldn’t be able to handle. Tony, you, Hulk, Hawkeye and Vision are going to keep the aliens off our backs. Widow, Scarlet Witch, myself and Thor are going to go after the big guy.”  
“What about Loki and I?” Terry asked.  
“You’re going to stay here,” the Captain replied, “You had a bad mission yesterday, and we can’t trust Loki not to defect.” He turned to the god. “It’s more because you worked for him when you tried to invade,” Loki nodded.  
“I would do the same,” he confirmed.  
Everyone but Terry and Loki left the room, and together they stood at the window to watch the rest of the team fly off to save the day.  
“Why now?” Terry pondered aloud.  
“What do you mean?” Loki questioned.  
“Why did Thanos show up now?” She turned away from the glass. “He could have attacked at any time, so why now?” Loki immediately felt sick, he knew why now.  
“I have something to lose.” They looked at each other and Terry understood why Thanos was attacking now. They both knew that the entire tower had just walked into his trap. They tried to contact them, but Thanos had planned well, and the radios were down, so they sat, just holding each other close.  
“If anything happens,” Loki said quietly, “You run, don’t worry about me, just run. At the end of the day, he wants to punish me, and that means you’ll be his priority.”  
Worry stopped them doing much, except surface tasks. Morning turned to noon and Terry made them a lunch neither of them ate. Noon turned to evening and they didn’t know anything about what was happening in the streets and with the team. As the sun was setting Terry turned to Loki.  
“Maybe we’re wrong, maybe he is just invading.” There was a crash in one of the rooms as the New York skyline started to light up. They looked at each other and slowly moved through the shadows to investigate. A figure crouched in the corridor. It looked up as they appeared.  
“Move backwards,” Loki whispered quietly and they headed towards the room they had started the morning in. The figure got up and started to follow them. A searchlight from a helicopter passed over it and Terry could see it was a purple giant with large straight crevasses in his chin. He wore gold armour and he smiled, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth, as they were backed into her room.  
“Loki, you failed.” The purple figure continued to walk towards them and although he already knew who it was, Loki was still faintly surprised when he recognised Thanos’ voice. “All you had to do was give me the Tesseract and in exchange I would help you conquer Earth.” He stopped in front of them, “But even with incentives, you failed.” The Mad Titan looked at Terry, “And for that you must pay”  
“No,” Loki growled, and he stepped in front of Terry to protect her. He tried to summon his magic, but nothing happened, and he looked down confused, having forgotten the bracelet that he registered as he flew towards the wall, from Thanos’ sneak attack. As he landed, the wind was knocked from him and he could only watch as Thanos proceeded to Terry. She was, sensibly, backing away. She hit the wall of the room and he could see her feeling behind her for the door handle. She found it and adjusted her angle.  
Thanos continued to stalk her and, just as he reached out to grab her, she opened the door. It hit him full in the face and she bolted into the corridor. Loki hoped and prayed she would be okay, that her knowledge of the layout would give her the winning advantage. He stayed down until Thanos had left the room, in pursuit of Terry. Carefully, Loki stood. He looked around for anything he could use as a weapon, but there was nothing.  
He too left out the room and went after the Titan. He listened at every door he passed, in a game of Hide and Seek with the highest stakes he had ever played. As he turned the corner at the end of the corridor, he was lifted off his feet, as Thanos wrapped a hand around his throat and slowly started to crush his windpipe. He tried to pull the purple fingers off his throat but his scrabbling afforded him nothing. Loki continued his escape efforts by trying to kick Thanos’ torso but Thanos just held out his arm so the trickster only hit air. As black started to crowd Loki’s vision, a voice rang out.  
“Stop!” Thanos turned to face Terry, who was now holding a rather large gun. Loki tried to yell at her that it wouldn’t work, that she should forget him and run, but he couldn’t reach any air. Thanos threw him at the wall again and, as he lay on the floor, he took a deep shaky breath, it was hard and hurt almost as much not being able to breathe. He heard gunshots as Thanos moved towards Terry and she tried to defend herself. He heard the gun click when it was empty and Thanos asking if she was done yet.  
He couldn’t do anything as the purple giant smacked her across the face, the force knocking her out. He saw him pick up her limp form and call his ship. As they disappeared, he could only whisper, “No, bring her back.” He tried to sit up more, but pain shot through his chest and black wiped out his sight as he repeated himself “bring her back” before falling unconscious.


	8. Chapter 8

They sat in Central Park, by the statue of Balto.   
“How did you end up being the Hawk’s sister-in-law?” He asked  
“Haha, actually it’s quite a funny story.” He waited expectantly, and she rewarded his patience. “We met on a mission. We had both been requested. Despite being quite young, I was already known for my ability to deal with hostage situation and he, well you know Clint and his sharpshooting. It was quite a long mission, nearly 3 days of negotiations and threats, before we finally got a decent shot. After the job was done, he asked me on a date, I agreed and sent Laura in my place. She knew it was a blind date, he was a little pissed, but by the end of the evening, it was clear I’d made a good call.”  
“You can be quite devious when you want to be can’t you? What about the asexuality? How did he and Widow find out about that?”  
“Well, Nat noticed that I never got laid, and mentioned it to Clint.”  
He nodded, “It sounds like something she would do.” She laughed before continuing.  
“Well, he decided to repay the favour, and set me up on loads of blind dates, most of which I ‘forgot’.” She made quote marks, “so then they started setting me up with women and they were so confused when that didn’t work. So Clint asked Laura about my preferences and she told him to drop it. Clint, being Clint refused, so he and Nat kept trying to wheedle my type until I couldn’t take it anymore, and like I did with you, I snapped. He went home and asked Laura, and she went mental. It was very funny actually.”  
“Sounds like you and Laura were really close.”  
“Yeah, we were,” she said sadly.  
Loki woke up, quite disorientated. He sat up and hissed as pain shot through his ribs. He looked down to see he was dressed in white. There was a plastic bracelet on the same wrist as the restrictor bracelet; it had his name and room number on it. He took a look around the room. It too was white and there were no windows. He wondered if he was back in the dungeons on Asgard. Then he saw Thor dozing lightly in the chair next to him.   
“Thor.” That couldn’t have been him speaking. The voice that had spoken was hoarse and quiet. He tried again “Thor.” No, apparently, the voice belonged to him. “Thor!” This time he yelled, and winced at the pain that flared in his throat.  
His brother stirred, waking up pretty quickly.  
“Loki, you’re awake,” he looked relieved, but Loki didn’t care.  
“Thor, where’s Terry? Have you got her back yet?” He didn’t care how much it hurt to talk; he had to know.  
“No one’s been able to contact her-. Wait Loki, what do you mean ‘have you got her back yet’?” Thor suddenly looked worried.  
“Thanos, he took her. The attack was a distraction to get her and punish me.” he said it in a rush, and Thor’s face became sympathetic.  
“Loki, she’s been with him for nearly 3 days,” he said, slowly and sadly.  
“No! She’ll be waiting for us.”  
“Loki, you heard the same tales I did, if Thanos has had her for this long-“  
Loki cut him off and began yelling as best he could.  
“No, she’ll hold on. She’s alive she just needs our help!” He tried to get off the bed, but Thor pushed him back on.  
“Brother, you can’t get up yet. Your injuries-” Thor stopped talking as Loki looked at him, eyes ablaze with something he had never seen in his brother before.  
“I don’t care,” Loki continued to shout, “She needs us, more than I need to heal.” A team of medical staff ran into the room and Thor moved backwards. They tried to calm Loki down but he was having none of it and he began to thrash.  
“We have to help her, we have to get her back.” He kept yelling it and repeating it, right up to the moment that the nurses finally got the sedative injected into his bloodstream.  
The rest of the team had come running when they heard Loki screaming and they saw Thor standing outside the room. Clint spoke at the same time as Steve.  
“Did he know where she is?”  
“Thor, are you okay?”  
They looked at each other.  
“Barton,” Steve said, “I know you’re worried about Terry, but Thor needs us more.”  
“No.” They all looked at Thor, who moved towards Hawkeye. “Friend, I am sorry, but Thanos has had her since the attack and, after this much time, it would be better for her if she is dead.” Clint had read all the information they had: he knew everything Thor had told them about the Mad Titan.  
“He sometimes adopts them, doesn’t he?”  
Thor looked at him sadly, as Nat pulled him into a hug. He just felt numb. Terry couldn’t be dead.   
“Clint,” Steve said softly “I’m sorry to have to bring this up but did Terry have anything to give to anyone?” Barton nodded, Nat guiding him to the wardrobe. They retrieved the letter, and then she flew him to Laura, before flying back to New York to leave the pair in peace. Clint watched his wife nervously, as she opened and read Terry’s letter and when she had finished Laura threw herself at her husband and cried. He hugged her tightly, he had read the letter when Terry had first written it, so he just sat and shared Laura’s grief.  
Back in the tower, everyone was kept busy with cleaning up. There were still aliens running round New York, who had been left behind, and everyone wanted their helping clearing and rebuilding. There was no time to mourn their fallen comrade.  
When he woke the second time, Loki was just numb. Whether that was because of Terry or the pain medication he couldn’t say. By watching the news, he learned that Thanos’ alien forces had just disappeared and the invasion had finished. It was a huge triumph for the Avengers, that they had scared off the invaders and everyone wanted interviews and pictures. But Loki knew the force had gone because they had got what they had come for.  
Thor came in to see him daily but he always avoided mentioning Terry and the funeral plans that were underway, until the day before.   
“Loki,” he said cautiously, “They’re holding a funeral for her tomorrow. Would you like to go?”  
Loki looked at his brother.  
“I loved her,” he said simply, “I didn’t care that she would never sleep with me, her smile made up for it. I would have become celibate if it was to make her happy.” His face screwed up.  
“Thor,” he choked on the tears in his throat, “I don’t, I don’t know what to do. She can’t be dead. I refuse to believe it, Thanos wouldn’t just kill her, not if it’s a punishment, she can’t be dead.”  
Thor could only look on sadly as his brother struggled, unable to grieve.  
The next day, Loki was alone when another ship arrived. The Avengers were at the funeral he had chosen to not attend.  
“Hi, uh I’m Star Lord. My crew and I, we’ve been following Thanos recently. We saw him attack and kidnap your person, we thought we should bring her back home.” Loki let them land and ran out to meet them. A green woman stepped from the ship cradling a body.   
“I’m sorry,” she said, handing over the covered form.  
Loki laid the body on the ground and ripped off the cover. Her eyes were closed and she was covered with marks. He gently stroked her face and discovered another gift Thanos had left.   
Pain exploded as he saw Thanos torturing her. He knew every second of pain she felt, he knew how her hope of rescue had slowly died, he knew how every time she had seen Thanos’ face a little more of her life force had dimmed. He watched her wither away to a spectre.  
When the memories stopped he had tears running down his cheek and the ship had gone. He felt so useless. Even when he had been a prince of Asgard, when he had had power and respectability, he still wouldn’t have been able to save her.  
He sat on the floor, rocking the empty husk that had been Terry. His overwhelming grief blocked out the most bittersweet sound as the bracelet, that stopped him saving her, fell to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed some way to get Terry home, and the Guardians just appeared. That's it though, cameo over.


	9. Chapter 9

“So, how does magic work? I mean is it genetic? Or is it something you learn?” She looked at him.  
“Actually, I did try and do studies on this, during some of my first visits to Midguard” He started eagerly, “From what I found, everyone, even mortals, have magic but few can actually access it. Even then ability varies. Some people, like myself, can access it with very little training while others, like Thor, can access it through magically imbued objects, in this case Mjolnir, and the rest, the majority, have no access, except in extreme circumstances.”  
“You mean like the stories, when mothers lift cars off their babies?”  
“Precisely!” She had never seen him looking so excited.  
“How can you tell who has access abilities and who doesn’t?”  
“Well, magicians can sense each other because they can feel the magic behind the mental barrier of another. The thinner the barrier, the more powerful the sorcerer.”  
“So what’s my barrier like?” She had to ask, despite knowing the answer he would give.  
“Actually, it’s unexpectedly thin for a mortal” She stared at him surprised. “It’s probably why you’re so good at your job, you unwittingly add a little magic to your tone, and it makes the person you’re talking to a little more pliable.”  
“Do you give magic lessons?” she said it jokingly  
“It’s not thin enough for complex magic, but a few basic tricks would be doable” She grinned.  
“Well that went spectacular.”  
“Tony, no one appreciates the sarcasm,” Steve sighed.  
They had been at the funeral, when Doctor Doom showed up and crashed it. The Avengers had had to suit up and fight rather than being able to respect their friend’s memory. They entered the elevator and, as they went up to the penthouse levels, Thor became more and more agitated.  
“There has been magic used here. Lots of it, and recently.” They all looked at him.  
“Alright everybody, be on your guard,” Steve instructed, as the doors opened. Thor pushed ahead of them all and continued forwards. They all followed behind as they turned the corner to find Loki, knelt over Terry’s limp form. He was pale, his hair lanky and the bags beneath his eyes could have held the Avenger’s doughnut order.  
“Brother!” Thor rushed forward, dropping Mjolnir and sliding into a kneeling position next to Loki.  
“Get a med team!” Loki could hear someone yelling but all that mattered was keeping the faint spark next to him safe. When the restrictor bracelet had fallen off, he had felt it. It was badly covered but he remembered showing her what full access through the mental barrier could mean. They had been on the Subway and he had shown her the trick he had used on Svartalfheim, to seem dead.  
“Thor, she survived him.” He smiled weakly, “I told you she would fight to get home.” The effort took what little strength the Asgardian had left, and he collapsed into Thor’s arms as the medics arrived.  
Loki woke up suddenly. He immediately remembered Terry and hurried out of the bed in his rush to see her. The door slid open and Loki collided with Wanda as she walked along the corridor.  
“Loki” she gasped.  
“Terry? Where’s Terry?” he asked frantically.  
“Calm down, she’s in the theatre, you won’t be able to see her yet.” Wanda was kind of panicked at the sight of the God of Mischief.  
He calmed down and as Thor turned the corner they made eye contact.  
“Brother, Steve is with her, to give us news as they operate.” Loki nodded and Wanda disappeared.  
The brothers walked to the theatre waiting room and began the nervous linger. Thor would get bleeps every now and again, and he would check his comms device. Loki would stare at him anxiously but Thor would just shake his head, and the wait would continue.  
It took about 5 hours but for Loki it was several lifetimes before Steve came out in his scrubs, and said the words he needed.   
“You can see her now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that covering life force would be fairly advanced, but plot devices so shhhhhh...


	10. Chapter 10

The first thing she saw when she woke, was the dishevelled Loki gently napping at her bedside. He looked like he had been there a while. His clothes were rumpled and his hair greasy, as though it was unwashed. He began to slowly stir like he knew he was being watched. His green eyes looked at her.  
“Terry?” it was muffled by sleep and sounded like a child.   
“Hey,” she whispered back, voice croaking from not being used in a while.  
He leaned over and hugged her gently, but eagerly.   
“I tried to tell them you would make it, but none of them listened,” he told her.  
“Loki, I’d read the reports you and Thor gave and honestly, it was only because my life force became so small even I could hide it, that I made it”  
He hugged her tighter.  
“But you’re okay now, you’re safe now.” He moved back and sat cross legged on the bed. “I swear to you, I will never leave you, until I die.” His eyes blazed with a passion and she knew the Lie smith was telling the truth. The machine monitoring her heart beat started beeping alarmingly.   
“That could be interesting.” Suddenly, fatigue struck her and she started to fight her drooping eyelids. Loki softened.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay here,” he said, climbing off the bed ready to resume his vigil in the chair.  
“Hold me.” It was faint but Loki heard it, and climbed into the bed, curling his arms around Terry. It felt right and as Loki drifted off, he looked at her and realised what that strange feeling he got when he was around her meant. He was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there drops the curtain.  
> My beta reader (the wonderful bookworm61) did have some questions for me, so in case any of you are wondering the same things she did, I will post her questions and my answers  
> Is Terry gonna live on Asgard?  
> No, it would start off the same arrangement as Thor and Jane, however I suspect Loki would find a way for Terry to have a similar life span to him.  
> Is Loki allowed back (on Asguard)?  
> Loki could go back if he wanted to, however having discovered that Earth is not as bad as he thought, and because there is n longer anything left for him in Asguard, I doubt he would take the option.  
> Will he make her immortal? As I already answered, I suspect he will try to extend Terry's life expectancy.  
> Are you gonna write a sequel? No, I am happy with where I have left it, and with these answers, the readers can decide what will happen next, however I may throw in some Terry cameos into my Supernatural/Avengers crossover that I am writing.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, the thing about Nat and Bucky singing Russian nursery rhymes was inspired by this post  
> http://thedeathlydisney96.tumblr.com/post/118071413384/widowbitesandhearingaids-headcanon-that  
> I always found it really amusing, and it just kinda slipped in. Marvel owns all the characters, with the exception of Terry


End file.
